Volcan de Pacaya

Hello!

We had an amazing adventure yesterday. We climbed to the top of the active Volcan de Pacaya.

Volcan de Justin

It was great!! We had arranged to hike with a friend we had randomly met from Indiana. We woke and met our tour guides at 5:50 am and took an hour van ride to the trail head. On the van we met a couple from Michigan, and a man from Ireland. When we arrived, we were greeted by 15 children wanting to sell us walking sticks for 5Q each. We had forgotten extra money, so were not able to purchase one. The children were saying “ Es necesario” which was pretty funny after the fact…. Because, it really was necessary! The hike was pretty steep in some places, and the terrain was weird!! We were hiking on cooled lava broken into a pebble like substance. Almost like hiking up a huge sand dune… not easy!!

Looks a little like Mars... huh?

We finally made it to the top in about 2 hours. We were able to look directly into the mouth of the steaming volcano. Once and a while the steam would hit you in the face and give you a lung full of sulfur steam that would make you cough…  A few lone dogs from the town did the full hike with us!!! When we reached the top, I shared my water with themJ  At the top, you can feel the heat coming out through the pebbles. We could also see two other volcanoes in view. It was so beautiful!

El Perro y mi

The "boca" or mouth of the volcano

The steam out the mouth of the volcano... with carbon and sulfer

The way down was even more of an adventure! It was so steep in some areas that we literally had to “ski” down the lava pebbles. It was scary, but really fun!! This volcano is constantly changing and is very active. We did not get to see flowing lava like others who have done the hike, but could summit the volcano because of that. Others had told us that you can roast a marshmallow over the lava when it’s flowing! The next time we visit, we will do the hike again and it will be completely different. The last time it exploded entirely was in 2010. We loved this adventure!!

J and I at the summit

Today we leave Antigua for Monterrico which is on the Pacific coast. There is promise to see hatching sea turtles in the sand. We will stay here for 3 nights and then on to two nights in Panajachel, overlooking lake Atitlan. We miss you all!! Thanks for the nice comments!!